Tenant stopped paying rent: what can I do

ssiaman

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what happens if a tenant stops paying rent on a house that is very near negative equity?

Can i stop paying the rent and hand the keys back to the Bank.

I am advised it will take me at least 12 months to get court order to have them removed.


I have talked to a solicitor and they advise me I must register with prtb first which will take at least 5 weeks but what can prtb do? Will I still end up in court 12 months down the road?
 
you should have registered with PRTB within a month of the tenancy being created. if you are later than that, then there are penalty fees payable.

You cannot claim interest relief unless you are PRTB compliant.

You post is a bit unclear. Are you renting and then sub renting or are you owner paying mortgage and then renting?

If the former, is the landlord aware of what you are doing?

if the latter, you still owe the lender the full amount of the mortgage. If you stop paying, they will pursue you for payment. you owe them. You borrowed from them and you must pay back.
 
I am the landlord. I understand I should have registered with PRTB. I am learning the hard way but even if I was registered, would I be in any better situation. Has the PRTB any real power to remove someone if they are not paying rent.

Its just amazing how the system allows someone to stop paying rent while I still have to pay the mortgatge regardless on a house that I cannot rent because they refuse to go.
 
Can you not go in when they are out and remove all their stuff into the garden and change the locks. It might not comply with the law - but neither are they.

Maybe you could contact ESB and the Gas Company and ask them to disconnect the feed into the house ?
 
ok we thought about both those options.

to change the locks and throw belongings of a woman and child out on the street but I am not sure that would go in my favour in court and more importantly what her extended family would do to be when I leave the house.

ESB and GAS could be disconnected but again is that legal and could it make her position stronger when it eventually goes to court.

I was reading other posts on PRTB and it sounds like a complete waste of time and money. it takes months to register but what power have they when it comes to this situation?
 
Did you ask her why she is refusing to pay the rent, is there a reason for it.

I would disconnect the ESB and Gas and that's not being cruel, I have a feeling that if you dont you will be the one paying the bills.

I agree with you, I think the PTRB is very much in favour of the tennant and the fact you havent registered with them does not go well in your favour.

When you go around to try and get the rent off her, take a female with you if you are male, you dont want accusations of any sort made against you.
 
yes thank you. good advice.

The reason she stopped paying rent was that when I gave her notice she said to take rent out of deposit as she had to use the rent to pay deposit on new house but there was never a new a house. I knew she was going to be trouble so I would be happy for her to go even if i did loose deposit. She was receiving rent allowance so I notified the social welfare and explained that I have a tennant not passing on the rent and is refusing to leave after 28 day notice period. Now the welfare has stopped all payments so now she claims she has no money to pay and is threatening to damage the house and is becoming more and more difficult to deal with.
 
i take it back about the prtb. looks like they have their online registration system up and running.
 
That is so awful. How dare she threaten to damage your property, she couldnt give a damn, even though she received rent allowance at the tax payers expense.

People like this give all rent allowance recipients a bad name. I really wish I had more advise for you but I am not at all au fait with housing law. Maybe some more experienced landlords on here could better advise you.
 

If as suggested by some posters, you disconnect any services, change locks, remove any property or belongings or intimidate them in any way you will receive a substantial fine from the PRTB.

All you can do is register with the PRTB, and then follow the procedures laid down by them.

PRTB have a long backlog probably a year or more, when you do get a hearing, if you are in the right and if you followed proper procedure your tenant will probably be told to pay the arrears and leave.

If your tenant still doesn’t leave and pay the arrears, afaik only then can you employ a solicitor to have the PRTB’s ruling enforced, bearing in mind, if they are on benefit they probably don’t have anything you can get, but at least at this stage you should get your property back along with a solicitors bill.

Unfair yes, but that’s the way it is.

Your best bet is to follow proper procedure and hope they leave.
 
If she is not even attempting to make payments then I would see no problem in disconnecting the ESB and GAS and changing the locks. For you all you know she could see you as a push over especially when she is threatening to break the house up. She could be laughing behind your back. If she is morally sorry and remorseful about her situation - then you could be more lenient if you wanted.

How do you know what state she has the place in now ? hopefully she will be looking after it.

If she does have the option of for example a month to move out - then she has a chance to do whatever destructive damage she wants.
How much will this extra hassle cost you ?


Financially whats the implications of keeping her there ?

Some posts say that there is a years back log in cases with PRTB. So she can stay there for another year free of charge ? will she then get squatters rights, if they still exist ?

iI for example the rent is 700 a month = 8,400 for the year
If she decides not to pay the last 2 months of ESB and GAS - rough est = 8620

Will PRTB fine you 8,620 or less ?

If your afraid that her family might come after you, then thats another issue !
 
If the ESB and Gas are being paid and in your tenant's name, you have no right to have these disconnected nd the Utility providers probably will not to that. If these services are in your name then go ahead get them cut off.

Whilst you are considering using the PRTB and legal system, you have been well advised that there is a waiting list of over a year. And if you do win the case there is no guarantee of ever been paid the money.

Surely the easiest thing would be to call around to the tenant and in a nice way tell her than the relationship as landlord and tenant simply is not working. Mention to her you think it best if she moved out and try and get some acceptance from her that she might be best moving on. OP you have not mentiuoned as to when the lease expires, but I would think that if thbe lease has expired you are within your rights to change the locks. Otherwise if not the courts / the PRTB, would have a field day with you as in case you didn't know tenants do have rights
 
Otherwise if not the courts / the PRTB, would have a field day with you as in case you didn't know tenants do have rights


And what are the landlord's rights in this situation??? He may have to wait a year for the case to reach court in which time he will have lost out considerable financially in terms of lost mortgage payments. The odds are stacked entirely in the tenants favour and the system is all wrong.
 
If she is not even attempting to make payments then I would see no problem in disconnecting the ESB and GAS and changing the locks.

Will PRTB fine you 8,620 or less ?

Have a look at Illegal Eviction where it states;

An illegal eviction may occur where a landlord through force, intimidation or otherwise (such as cutting off utilities, changing the locks etc) denies a tenant from accessing a rented dwelling or removes a tenant’s belongings from the dwelling whether or not a valid of Notice of Termination had been served in respect of the tenancy.

The landlord may not take the law into his own hands. A dispute case referred to the PRTB about an illegal eviction will be given priority and there are procedures in the Residential Tenancies Act under which the PRTB may apply to the Circuit Court for an interim or interlocutory injunction to restrain the landlord and re-instate the tenant pending the Board’s determination of the dispute.

Also page 6 from A Quick Guide to the Residential Tenancies Act, where it states;

The Board may award damages of up to 20,000 and arrears of rent of up to 20,000 or twice the annual rent, whichever is greater (but a maximum of 60,000 applies to rent arrears awards).

http://public.prtb.ie/act.htm

Play it by the book or you are playing into your tenants hands.
 
People are recommending all kinds of wild courses of actions.

It would be crazy to get some large individuals (who aren't connected to you) to call around to this lowlife and threaten her (and her family) with violence unless she vacates the property immediately. It would be crazy to ignore the impotent PRTB and to refuse to wait 1-2 years for justice while your property goes down the tubes.

Hope the above helps.
 
And what are the landlord's rights in this situation??? He may have to wait a year for the case to reach court in which time he will have lost out considerable financially in terms of lost mortgage payments.

No point in blaming me. The laws are the laws and one must abide by these facts. As others have pointed out there is little means in breaking the law to serve one's purpose.

The OP appears to be in fairy land if she thinks she can simply drop the keys into the Bank and walk away. An Irish answer to an Irish problem simply will not work in this case.

The ups and downs of property Investment should have been looked at before you wasted your time and money before embarking down this route. Greed is a disease, not simply a career
 
The ups and downs of property Investment should have been looked at before you wasted your time and money before embarking down this route. Greed is a disease, not simply a career


That is a very unfair comment, you have no idea of the OP situation or whether he bought the property because of greed or not. You would be better off offering more concrete advise than jumping to conclusions.

There are no decent tenancy laws in this country and that is the crux of the problem. Our government would want to take a closer look at how our european neighbours operate their tenancy laws and maybe they will learn sometihng from them.
 
Thank you for all the helpful advice.


I have a tenant who is currently staying in my house and refusing to pay rent. I have good reason to go to the bank and tell them I cannot pay the mortgatge. The question is how understanding is our banks in this situation.

I have just changed the ESB into tenants name. Gas is still in my name. ESB has not being paid in months so I am sure ESB will cut it off eventually.
 
People are recommending all kinds of wild courses of actions.

It would be crazy to get some large individuals (who aren't connected to you) to call around to this lowlife and threaten her (and her family) with violence unless she vacates the property immediately. It would be crazy to ignore the impotent PRTB and to refuse to wait 1-2 years for justice while your property goes down the tubes.

Hope the above helps.

It would be even crazier to move in yourself and a few of your big burly friends. Very loud music with a young child in the house would also be terrible but then again .........
 
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